Ottoman military strength and religious authority deterred Mehmed Ali from rebelling

Evidence

As much as he hoped to get rid of the “Ottoman yoke,” and as much as he was getting more and more confident of his troops and their loyalty to him and that they would not “fall from him like sand from a pilgrim’s feet,” Mehmed Ali was “wary of Ottoman military rejuvenation” and of the fact that the Sultan had military forces to be contended with. Furthermore, the Pasha knew that he also had to contend with the moral authority that the Sultan had in the land of Islam. It was one thing for Greek Christian subjects to rebel against the Ottoman authority, but quite another thing for a Muslim vali to rebel against the Defender of the Faith. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 235